Splurge or Save: Beauty Edition

Sunday, 19 April 2015

I absolutely love experimenting with make up and beauty products. Whether that be spending serious sterling or purchasing for pennies, I have accumulated years of experience where I have learnt what's worth investing a tonne in and what's not. Today's post is a Splurge or Save: Beauty Edition and I am going to try to do a money saving/financial post every Sunday from now on, as it's something that's really important to me. I hope you've all had an amazing weekend and are looking forward to the new week ahead, I know I am.

Primers - SAVE!

Primers are fast becoming an essential in the average make up bag, whereas about 5 years ago they were practically unheard of to the average woman. I have tried copious amounts of primer bases and some have been amazing, some have been terrible. The high street, in my opinion, has the best and most efficient primers out there. Of course there are some amazing high end brands that have got it right but the high street seems to match all of those with ease.MY SAVE PRIMER FAVES

High Street foundations make me want to cry, they are absolutely terrible in my opinion. I genuinely believe that spending up to £40 on a decent foundation is essential for keeping your skin healthy, achieving the look you desire and making sure that the coverage is maintained. I am still looking for my perfect high end foundation since they discontinued Clinique Repairwear *sigh* but I could never ever go back to wearing high street foundation after numerous horrendous skin breakouts and a horrid allergic reaction I suffered a week before my 18th birthday. Not only is a high end foundation a MILLION times better for your skin than the tack on the high street, it also lasts about 2 months longer. You should invest in your foundation more than anything because it covers probably the most sensitive skin on your body. It's odd that the high street hasn't mastered the foundation, but gets primers almost always right.MY SPLURGE FAVES
Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation, FeelUnique.com from £29.50
Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation, BeautyBay.com £32.00
Chanel Perfection Lumiere Long Wear Flawless Foundation, Boots £36.00

Eyeshadows - SPLURGE & SAVE!

This really, really depends for me, I absolutely love Urban Decay's eyeshadows more than anything but I also love the W7 dupes that cost almost 90% less. It really depends on the sort of money you have to spend, but it's not entirely necessary to spend a fortune on eyeshadows. It's becoming more common for high street brands to bring out palettes that are proving competition for the high end brands, which are all easier on our bank balance.MY SPLURGE AND SAVE FAVES
W7 In The Buff Eye Shadow Palette, Amazon £6.99
Color Riche La Palette Eye Shadow Riche Beige, Superdrug £14.99
Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette, Urban Decay £38.00

Mascara - SAVE!

Mascara is probably my second most important make up product. I have spent stupid amounts of money trying out lots and lots of different ones, without really needing to. I haven't found my perfect mascara yet, but there are hundreds of high street brands that have come extremely close, a lot closer than most of the high end brands. You probably get a new mascara product every 3 months from high street brands, with new brush techniques and shapes and brand new lengthening, high volume formulas, and seem to take it to the next step more than high end ever have.MY SAVE FAVES

It's really important to keep your skin in as good condition as you can possibly keep it and the trick to doing this is researching and investing in a good skincare range. I really, really like Clinique and I really like Liz Earle. Liz Earle is more affordable than you would expect but as a collection for everything you need it is an investment that is worth taking out for the sake of your skin. I have used many budget brands that have gave me short term pleasure and some that have nearly burned my face off, and I have always found high end brands contain more and more things that benefit your skin.MY SPLURGE FAVES

Okay so splurging on shampoo/conditioner is really spending more than £5 for both bottles to me, I never really cared about getting the best out of my haircare until recently and I have realised that spending that little extra can make a huge difference. I'm a big lover of Aussie, Kerastase and OGX shampoos and conditioner and they have all really, really contributed in making my hair healthier than I think it's ever been. By spending a few more pennies you could find your hair being more healthier, shinier and more manageable than you ever expected possible.MY SPLURGE FAVES

I have never ever used a high end concealer that is better than a high street brand, with concealer there are two I absolutely swear by and so does every other blogger and YouTuber I know, there's not much else to say on this subject other than you will never ever need to spend more than £8 on concealer.MY SAVE FAVES
Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer, Superdrug £4.19
Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, Superdrug £5.49

Eye Liner Liquid & Pencil - SAVE!
Another two products you will never have to spend more than a tenner on. The high street has it covered more than anybody else and are constantly finding new ways to improve the formula and brushes.MY SAVE FAVES
Bourjois Khol & Contour Eye Pencil, Boots £5.49
Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner, Boots £7.99
LOreal Paris Super Liner Blockbuster Intense, Boots £6.99

I hope you have enjoyed this post and got some beauty products to add to your wishlist! Leave me a comment with your favourite beauty products that you can't live without and any suggestions you have for me!

6 comments

i love this post, i recently got a sample of estee lauder double wear and i'm loving it it matches my skin color perfectly and it's very light and has a great coverage.About the mascara i totaly agree with you, it is a save! i've always used a cheap mascara i usually get from the dollar store or similars because they are the ones who work better for me, i have long lashes but flat and i curl them every day and when i use expensive mascaras my eyelashes get flatter since expensive mascara is heavier, omg, i wrote a letter here.

I'm an acne prone girl too and find that mineral make-up to suit me best! I use Lily-Lolo which is a british brand, BUAV approved and online. Foundations are around £12 I think and they have so many shades. So if you ever find the £40 high-end price tag too high, have a try at some lily lolo, the zinc oxide it what makes it so great for acne-prone skin :) I totally agree about eyeliner, you so don't need to spend much, at all!BobbyannexxxxPromisingBeauty.blogspot.co.uk

Love how we agree on nearly everything on here. I am also a massive fan of Clinique and its the only thing I use on my skin. My favorite eyeliner though is Soap and Glorys supercat, its literally amazing!